Monday, July 14, 2008

CINNAMON APRICOT FLAN TART

With all the berries and fruits which are invading the market stalls, the best way to use them is by making tarts, pies, muffins or cakes...It is one of my favorite fruit seasons as the the choice is vast and the possibilities are endless. But, generally, from May through October, I mainly bake loads of delicious tarts, invent and improvise a lot while in the kitchen!

I very rarely follow a recipe when I'm making a fruit tart and just let my imagination do the work. I am quite good at that...The other day, I had a box of fragrant apricots from the South of France begging to get eaten, so I decided that I'd bake a speciality of the house which we very much love: "Cinnamon Apricot Flan Tart".

My luscious tart combines the slight and contrasting salty taste of the pastry as well as the natural acidity and the exhalirating aromas of the apricots to the soothing sweetness of the creamy and wonderfully cinnamon-flavored "Flan Filling". A perfect combination!

Method for the "Shortcrust Pastry":1. Sift the flour and salt into a medium-sized bowl/bassin.2. Add butter and the lard. Rub between the fingers until the mixture is flaky.3. Pour in water, gradually, while continuously cutting and stirring with a knife (stop adding water when the dough is stiff/it should not be sticky or wet). Gather up into a soft ball.4. Dust your working area and rolling pin with flour and shape the pastry by rolling away from you and always turning the pastry around in order to achieve a round shape.5. Place it in the tart pan and trim the edges.6. Prick the bottom with a fork.Method for the "Apricot Filling":7. Preheat the oven to 220° C (450° F).8. Mix together the cornstarch and 2 Tbs light brown sugar.9. Sprinkle over the pastry bottom.10. Place the apricots in a neat way.11. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tbs light brown sugar and cinnamon.12. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until the sides of the pastry are pale golden and the apricots are slightly cooked through.

Method for the "Flan Filling":13. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk lightly the eggs, then add the cream, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and light brown sugar. Mix well in order to get a homogenous mixture.14. Pour the filling into the tart pan.15. Bake for another 20-25 minutes at 200° C (400° F), until the filling is golden brown and completely set.16. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Remarks:Lard is solid pork fat. You can replace it by the oil of your choice or margarine which also make the crust nice and crispy/flaky.You will have a little bit of pastry leftover. Use it as you wish.Instead of double cream, try using single cream.You can replace the cinnamon in this recipe by almond essence. In that case, leave out the cinnamon used for sprinkling and for the filling. Add 1/2 tsp almond essence to the "Flan Filling".Vanilla paste works also very well. Use 1/2 tsp.

Always lift the flour out of the bowl while rubbing; it makes the butter/flour mixture airy.Be careful not to add too much water as the pastry should not be stick to the touch.While mixing the water to the flour/butter mixture never work the pastry like a bread dough, otherwise you would end up with a stiff, hard and elastic pastry, because you would have liberated the gluten in the flour.

Serving suggestions:This tart is delicious when eaten with either a scoop of homemade ice cream (vanilla, pistachio, caramel, walnut, etc..) or a dollop whipped cream.You can also sprinkle some almond praline or drizzle some marple syrup as well as some lavender honey over it.

Awesome tart Rosa! I was a bit disheartened when I learned that lard is pork-fat (because I am a vegetarian) but the next line on its replacements turned my frown into a smile :)and I'll have a surprise for you in a week or so :)

I was just going to make this on the week-end, but my husband took me out the whole day....I got everything ready, my pastry already in the tarte pan, I already marinated the apricot, I just need to make the filling. I am planning to make this today...Yours look absolutely mouth watering!

gorgeous cinamon cake. I want a pieeece :-)I came here through What´s For Lunch, Honey? I am hosting an event dedicated to trying foods from other bloggers. Meeta is in the spotlight for July. I really hope you can participate :-)